What's for Dinner?

Last night I hosted my first Hump Day Dinner of the year.

Beverage: Strawberry lemonade Italian sodas, or soda water with lemon or lime

Starter: Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta

Salad: Caprese, fun way to serve but actually provides too much salad per person in my opinion.

Main: Nectarine pizza

Dessert: Chocolate cake, just upside down cupcakes with warm frosting poured over the top

I can't speak for everyone at dinner, but this meal was kind of awesome. I loved the pizza and felt a little sad when the leftovers were finished off this evening. I was also sad when I realized the avocado mixture didn't make it into the fridge. Luckily, I have about a bajillion more cupcakes chillin' in the freezer.

Microwave Popcorn

When Molly clued me in that you can make microwave popcorn without a packet of "microwave popcorn," I was amazed. What a cool idea!

Then, the more I thought about it, I became a bit frustrated. Why didn't I know about this before??? It's so simple. It's so easy. And it actually makes a lot of sense. How did those commercial microwave popcorn brands have me so convinced?

All you need is a paper bag (which can be used many times), a piece of tape, popcorn kernels, and of course, a microwave. The rest of the directions are here.

Pinterest

With the start of the school year, not too much is happening over here with cookery and crafts. I've been making a few new flavors of Italian sodas (cherry-lime and strawberry), but I thought it might be too boring to keep sharing essentially the same thing!

I did finally join Pinterest though. I can't say I'm obsessed yet... but I did dream about it all night. Right now I'm just working on pinning my bookmarks so I can actually see all the recipes I've been wanting to make.

Come find me!

Birthday Pie

Mike's birthday was yesterday.

It was the perfect excuse to eat apple pie for breakfast.

I've posted about my favorite pie crust recipe before, but I'll do it again.

2 cups flour
1/3 cup water
2/3 olive oil
pinch of salt*

Mix all of that in a bowl until a ball forms. Divide the ball in half to create the top and bottom. Bake at 425 for about 45 mins, covering the crust until the last few minutes.

So easy.

*I decided to add a bit of salt this time for flavor. I think it was a good choice.

Lime Italian Sodas

Last night while waiting for my rental car to be delivered (only took 2 days!), I decided to make lime syrup. I loved the raspberry Italian sodas I made this summer and was eager to make another version... but with fruit that is accessible and cheap in Abu Dhabi. Limes!

To make the syrup I boiled 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar. Then I removed it from heat and added two sliced limes. I let the limes steep for about an hour and strained out the pulp. I sealed the syrup up in an old lemonade bottle so it was ready for me after work today.

Now I'm thinking of other flavors? Kumquat maybe?